Author Interview at NFReads.com

Today, NFReads published my author interview. They ask good questions, so if you want to know my dark secrets, take a gander. Just kidding. I kept my darkest secrets in a closet under two tons of rubbish.

P.S. Don't forget to pre-order No Peace, A Steve Dancy Tale

No Peace, A Steve Dancy Tale

Now Available for Pre-Order at Amazon

Publication Date, September 9, 2019

After marriage, Steve Dancy has quietly settled in San Diego. He can hardly remember his days of wanderlust, and he’s grateful to have left behind the violence of a raw frontier. In a celebratory mood, Steve invites his mother to a meet her new grandchild in a chic resort in Monterey, California. With the delivery of a handwritten note, his world suddenly reverts to the savagery of his bygone days.

There will be no peace.

Pre-Order Today at Amazon

Honest westerns filled with dishonest characters.

Coming soon!

Honest Westerns. Filled with Dishonest Characters

We've selected our book cover for No Peace. We chose this one out of a set of six prototypes. As you can see, the photo is watermarked, but I have since bought a use license. All that remains is the final art work. Getting close.

How to get documents to your Kindle

One of the people who requested a free Steve Dancy short story (See the box to the right) asked if there was a way to get it transferred to her Kindle. I've been transferring documents to my Kindle forever, so I forgot that some people don't know it's possible. Every Kindle has an email address associated with it that can be used to get almost any kind of text document onto your device.

It's a two-step process:

1. Authorize the sending email address

This step safeguards your device. No one can upload to your Kindle without prior approval. Go to "Your Digital Contend and Devices under "Accounts and Lists." Then select "Preferences." Under "Personal Document Setting" you can add approved sender email addresses.

2. Attach a file to an email and send it to the Kindle email address

That's it. Before retiring, my assistant sent work documents to my kindle because I found it easier to read large documents on my Kindle rather than on my PC. It also works with a Kindle app on a phone or pad.

P.S. I don't want to know your Kindle address, so I'll send the free short story as an MS Word document that you can then transfer to your Kindle.

Point of View Shift

Stories are told from a point of view (POV) and I prefer a predictable POV. Within a story, I find sudden shifts jarring.

Jarring bad, keeping the reader in the story good.

The most predictable POV is one that never changes throughout the course of the novel. All seven Steve Dancy Tales are written from Steve’s POV in first person. My Best Thrillers never change POV either, but the stories are told in third person. The advantage of a single POV is that the reader develops a closer relationship with the protagonist. Another plus is that the reader is pulled through the story at the same pace and with the same information as the protagonist, which helps the reader participate in the story.

A single POV doesn’t always help the story, however. In Tempest at Dawn, I alternate POV between Roger Sherman and James Madison. This allows me to portray the conflicts at the Constitutional Convention as the two warring camps strategize and maneuver against each other.

What brought all this to mind was an offer I recently made to give away one of my Steve Dancy short stories. (See the box to the top right.) When I was invited to write this short story for Wanted, A Western Story Collection, I decided to do something different with the project. Captain Joseph McAllen is a recurring character in the Steve Dancy Tales, but we never got inside his head. (You only read the thoughts of the POV character.) I thought it would be fun to tell this story from McAllen’s POV. I think it worked out well, but you can see for yourself by requesting the story.

No Peace: A Steve Dancy Tale

Available soon

No peace

After marriage, Steve Dancy has quietly settled in San Diego. He can hardly remember his days of wanderlust, and he’s grateful to have left behind the violence of a raw frontier. In a celebratory mood, Steve invites his mother to a meet her new grandchild in a chic resort in Monterey, California. With the delivery of a handwritten note, his world suddenly reverts to the savagery of his bygone days. 

There will be no peace.

Honest westerns filled with dishonest characters.

No Peace, A Steve Dancy Tale

Honest westerns filled with dishonest people.

Progress Report

The latest Steve Dancy Tale has been returned from my editor and I have completed my review of her recommended changes. Again, she has done an excellent job of smoothing out my writing and catching errors. I have transmitted the manuscript to my book interior designer, who will prepare print and eBook formats for publication. As always, we're still flailing a bit with the cover design.